A tropical wave of summer dining promotions is upon us, with Broward’s annual restaurant bacchanal starting Thursday (Aug. 1). Greater Fort Lauderdale Restaurant Months, formerly known as CraveGFL, begins earlier and expands to two months this year, running through Sept. 30.
That puts it head-to-head against Miami Spice (Aug. 1-Sept. 30) and partly overlapping with Dine Out Downtown Delray (Aug. 1-7), and Flavor Palm Beach and Boca Raton Restaurant Month (both Sept. 1-30).
Scores of Broward restaurants will offer multi-course dinners — typically appetizer, entree and dessert — for $35 or $45, not including tax, tip or drinks. An effort to grow the Broward event has paid off: 66 eateries (and counting) have signed up, a healthy increase from last year’s roster of 44. Among the notable Fort Lauderdale participants: Valentino Cucina, One Door East, Dune at Auberge and the Terrace Grill at the Dalmar. The full list is available at Sunny.org. Some restaurants do not offer the special on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s always best to call ahead to check. Reservations are also a good idea.
My advice: Try expensive or scenic restaurants where meals typically cost much more than the promotional menu. That means skipping some good restaurants where meals ordinarily are in the $40 range. Here are eight picks that should leave diners sated and elated.
Dune, Fort Lauderdale
It’s gorgeous, it’s on the ocean and it’s my favorite Broward newcomer of the past year. Perhaps you too will be swept away by Dune at the Auberge Residences and Spa, a restaurant that opened in November 2018 and is operated by the same folks behind Napa Valley’s famed Auberge du Soleil resort. The soft-toned interior is California casual yet elegant and the deck is beach bliss. The wine list is impressive and fairly priced. The food from chef Edgar Beas isn’t overly ambitious but is solid and well executed.
Dune will offer a $45 menu Monday through Thursday for restaurant months, with an around-the-world, four-flight wine pairing option available for an extra $25. (Go ahead, live a little.) Start with Dune’s signature crab spaetzle with chili flakes, or tuna crudo with kimchi and hearts of palm, or little gem salad with beets and goat cheese. Main course options include roasted chicken with lemon and romesco sauce, wild salmon with shaved fennel or grilled skirt steak with salbitxada (zesty tomato) sauce and green onions. Choose among four side dishes, including mushrooms, grits, potatoes or summer squash. Finish with Valrhona chocolate cake with caramel sauce or coconut ice cream with puffed rice.
2200 N. Ocean Blvd., 754-900-4059, Dunefl.com, special $45 menu offered Monday-Thursday 5-10 p.m.
Mastro’s Ocean Club, Fort Lauderdale
I panned Mastro’s a few months after its summer 2018 opening, but GFLRM strikes me as the perfect time to try (or re-try) this pricey chain outpost. The large, loud dining room overlooks the Intracoastal and the scenery (displays of wealth in various forms) is sure to entertain. Mastro’s, which opened at the former longtime home of Chart House, has a new executive chef (Chi Chan) and the corporate owners are giving the locals a break with a promotional $45 menu available Sunday through Thursday. It’s actually a good value (relatively speaking, compared to the usual second-mortgage pricing). It features many signature items, and just a couple of ostentatious $18 supplement side options (lobster mashed potatoes or Alaskan king crab black truffle gnocchi).
Start with jalapeno tuna sashimi, chopped salad or spicy mambo salad and then select from entrees including blackened salmon with truffle butter, seared mahi with mango lobster butter, herb-roasted chicken or a 6-ounce filet mignon. Diners should finish with the signature warm butter cake, but other choices include cheesecake or mango sorbet with blackberries.
3000 NE 32nd Ave., 954-561-4800, MastrosRestaurants.com, special $45 menu offered Sunday-Thursday 5-10 p.m.
Etaru, Hallandale Beach
Etaru, a modern Japanese restaurant featuring pristine seafood and robatayaki (charcoal) grilling, has two Broward outposts and both will offer the special $45 promotional menu Sunday through Thursday. But I much prefer the oceanfront atmosphere at the hard-to-find Hallandale Beach original, tucked behind the Hyde Resort. Parking can be a pain, but the soothing waves bring serenity.
Etaru will offer a $35 wine-and-sake pairing option, and the food part has a pleasing wrinkle: All courses will be served family style, with the opportunity to taste several dishes without making “either/or” choices. The starter platter will feature a sashimi mix of tuna, salmon and hamachi and burrata with crispy rice, cherry tomatoes and shiso pepper pesto. The second course features salmon roll with asparagus, panko-breaded fried prawns with spicy mayonnaise, and pork dumplings with mushrooms and truffle ponzu sauce. An entree platter for two or more can feature grilled teriyaki salmon, skirt steak with chimichuri and broccolini with miso. The family-style dessert platter with fruit, sorbets and cakes are a knockout.
111 S. Surf Road (behind Hyde Resort), Hallandale Beach, 954-271-3222, or 500 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954-477-8068, EtaruRestaurant.us, special $45 menu offered Sunday-Thursday 5-10 p.m.
Valentino Cucina, Fort Lauderdale
I’m not sure what chef-owner Giovanni Rocchio will offer on Valentino Cucina’s promotional menu (details haven’t been posted online, and he says he’s still working on it) and I’m not sure the last time his restaurants took part (he says last year, but I could have sworn they haven’t in years). All I know is this: I consider Valentino Cucina the best restaurant in Broward, the only one I’ve awarded a top four-star rating in three-plus years of reviewing, so no matter what Rocchio is making (and rest assured, he’s on the line every night) I’ll be happy eating. He has a magical touch with pastas, which he produces every day in his kitchen. The GFLRM menu will be $45, available Tuesday through Thursday only.
For those who like their Italian red-sauced and heaping, this isn’t your place. But for food lovers who appreciate finesse, delicacy and a high level of service, Valentino Cucina is a must-book.
620 S. Federal Highway, 954-523-5767, ValentinoCucinaItaliana.com, $45 menu available Tuesday-Thursday 6-10 p.m., closed Sunday-Monday.
One Door East, Fort Lauderdale
It’s in the same building as Valentino Cucina and is co-owned and run by Rocchio, but One Door East is a completely different restaurant, an industrial bar and dining room featuring a creative global tapas menu with a recent emphasis on vegetable dishes. One Door East joined the GFLRM lineup in recent weeks, giving new chef Joel Ehrlich, who started this month, a chance to introduce himself to Fort Lauderdale.
Ehrlich, a Florida native, has spent time at top San Francisco and Napa Valley kitchens, including Bellota, Coqueta, Bistro Jeanty and Tra Vigne. He follows a procession of talented chefs, including Jeremy Bearman (who opened the restaurant in 2016 before starting Oceano Kitchen in Lantana) and Joe Mizzoni (who left in May to become executive chef at Ad Lib in Coral Gables). Menu details have not been posted (Rocchio says they are still being finished) but for those who like innovative dining, One Door East is an alluring proposition.
One Door East, 620 S. Federal Highway, 954-368-6902, OneDoorEast.com, $45 promotional menu available Tuesday-Thursday 5-10 p.m., closed Sunday-Monday.
Le Bistro, Lighthouse Point
Earlier this decade, this small French restaurant in a strip mall went to hell’s kitchen and back, featured on Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares” show. Owners Elin and Andy Trousdale (the chef) took the constructive criticism to heart and the restaurant, open since 2001, has endured.
Le Bistro will offer a special menu Tuesday-Sunday, with reservations by phone only and price ($35 or $45) based on the entree. Dinners include appetizer, an intermezzo of shaved fruit ice, entree and dessert. The $35 entrees include asparagus saffron risotto or fish du jour. The $45 entrees include keto-friendly baked Maine lobster, steak Diane or braised lamb. Among the appetizer options: cured Scottish salmon, beet and goat cheese salad, roasted carrots or truffled potato with chorizo sausage, Desserts include apple tart, creme brulee, chocolate mousse or passion fruit creme anglaise.
4626 N. Federal Highway, Lighthouse Point. 954-946-9240. LeBistroRestaurant.com. Special menu ($35 and $45) offered Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Mondays.
S3, Fort Lauderdale
I’ve never had a bad experience at S3, a stylish beachfront eatery at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort open since 2013 and operated by local pros The Restaurant People.
S3 (which stands for sun, surf and sand) is known for small plates and big flavors. The special $35 menu for restaurant months will be offered Sunday-Thursday and feature four courses, with a starting “snack” in addition to appetizer, entree and dessert.
Snack choices include crispy hominy, tomato bread with manchego cheese or goat cheese croquettes with red chili guava. For appetizer, choose among spicy tuna roll, sauteed shrimp, sushi tower, mac and cheese, kale salad or rotisserie chicken salad. Entree options include short rib with spaetzle, grilled octopus, salmon with apricot quinoa or herb lemon chicken breast with spaghetti squash and ratatouille. Finish with a chocolate chip blondie, passion fruit panna cotta, chocolate brownie or bruleed lemongrass cheesecake.
505 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. (at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort), 954-523-7873, S3Restaurant.com, $35 special menu available Sunday-Thursday 4 p.m.-closing.
Steak 954, Fort Lauderdale
What happens when you combine a classic steakhouse with a beach location? You get Steak 954, an airy ocean dining room with lime-green banquettes and tanks with glowing jellyfish. Steak 954, from showman restaurateur Stephen Starr, has been open for nearly a decade, a dependable albeit pricey place that has become part of Fort Lauderdale’s fine-dining firmament. It pleases locals and tourists alike with its mix of Prime and American Wagyu beef and quality seafood.
Steak 954 will offer a $45 menu Sunday-Thursday for restaurant months, which cannot be combined with any other promotions. Start with edamame ravioli with truffle mushroom cream (yes, please), lobster bisque or Caesar salad. Entree options include pan-roasted 8-ounce American Wagyu top sirloin with fingerling potatoes and baby beets, vegetable risotto with shaved mushrooms or pistachio-crusted Chilean sea bass. Finish with sorbets, gluten-free vanilla cheesecake with oat-almond crust or a signature S’mores ice cream sandwich with double chocolate chunk ice cream and toasted marshmallow (yes, please).
401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. (inside the W Hotel), 954-414-8333, Steak954.com, $45 promotional menu offered Sunday-Thursday 5:30-10 p.m. to groups of 8 or fewer.
Others to consider
The Cook and the Cork, 9890 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs, 954-227-2665. Cozy, upscale bistro from a couple who branched out from catering in 2014. $35 special menu (with optional extra course for $10) offered Wednesdays and Thursdays only.
Good Spirits Fifth and Fed, 476 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, 954-523-2580. Remarkably composed plates and sophisticated flavors from the same ownership group behind the Quarterdeck. Special menu offered daily.
Jackson’s Prime, 3300 NE 32nd St., Fort Lauderdale, 954-765-6316. Elegant steakhouse in a storefront setting near Galt Ocean Mile from veteran restaurateur Jack Jackson and chef Johnny Vinczencz. $45 menu offered nightly except Saturdays. Closed Mondays.
JWB Prime Steak and Seafood, 1111 N. Ocean Drive, Hollywood, 954-874-4462. Tropical chic dining room with steaks and seafood at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Resort. $35 special menu (with many upgrade options) available by reservation only Sunday-Thursday, but not Labor Day.
Vienna Wine Bar, 9100 W. State Road 84, Davie, 954-423-1961. A cozy Eurocentric staple in the western ‘burbs since 1999 from owners Per and Linda Jacobsen. $37 special 3-course menu available daily.
